Midnight Conversation
by BettyHall223
Summary: It's after midnight and someone wants to talk with Jack.


_Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended._

It was after dark as Jack climbed the steps to his temporary home. He entered his house, turned on the light and set down his briefcase. After removing his jacket he hung it in the closet. Walking into the kitchen, he pulled off his tie as he opened the door of the refrigerator and looked inside. Seeing that there was little to eat, he called the nearby Chinese restaurant and placed an order.

As he waited, he wandered out to the balcony, sat in a chair and looked at the skyline of Washington.

The food arrived and after paying the delivery boy, he sat down at the kitchen table, began to eat and thought back over the past few days. He'd had three days of meetings with the Joint Chiefs and the members of a congressional committee, as he asked for more funds for the Stargate program. If the funds were approved, it would cost the American taxpayers millions of dollars for a program they were completely unaware of.

He had used all his powers of persuasion to get the funds and it had been an uphill battle. He would find out tomorrow if he had succeeded in getting what he asked for.

As he threw the empty containers in the trash, he realized how tired he was. Thinking that a hot shower would feel good, he undressed, went into the bathroom and got into the warm water.

After showering and getting into bed, he turned on the TV in the bedroom and flipped through the channels as he realized how hard it was to keep his eyes open. There wasn't anything on that he wanted to watch, so he turned off the TV and the lamp.

Closing his eyes he wished he was at home in Colorado.

************

Deep in Jack's mind, he knew that sound. A phone was ringing. He slowly turned over, looked at the clock and opened his eyes really wide to see what time it was. 2:10 a.m. 'I'm going to strangle whoever is calling me at this hour' he thought. 'I don't care if Earth is being overrun by Jaffa. I don't care if the Replicators are back and have invaded the planet or there's a new system lord here to destroy mankind. I don't even care if it's the President himself. I'm old, tired and grumpy and I need my sleep!'

The phone continued to ring as he fumbled around on the nightstand, finally locating the annoying device and answered.

"This better be worth waking me up for."

Hearing nothing, he waited a few seconds to see if the caller would say anything, but his patience was wearing thin. "Who is this?" he barked.

"Daddy!"

Suddenly awake, he set up and turned on the lamp. "Gracie. Are you okay?"

"Yes Daddy."

He realized it was a little after midnight in Colorado. "Why are you awake at this hour?"

He heard a giggle.

"You should be in bed, young lady."

"I can't sleep, Daddy. I wanted to talk to you. I miss you."

Jack grinned. "I miss you too, baby, but it's way past your bedtime. You're supposed to be asleep and, by the way, how did you know how to call me?"

"I watched Mommy hit the button on the phone so I just did what she did."

He smiled, realizing that Gracie had Sam's cell phone.

"Sweetie, are you in your room?"

"No. I'm in the den on the sofa."

"Okay."

He heard munching. "Are you eating something?"

"Popcorn. Me and Mommy ate some while we watched The Simpsons."

Jack smiled. "You got your Mom to watch The Simpsons with you? That's my girl!"

Gracie giggled. "Mommy thinks Marge's hair is funny and Homer should be on a diet."

Jack chuckled.

"We like The Simpsons, don't we, Daddy?"

"We certainly do, baby."

"I miss watching it with you."

"I miss watching with you too, sweetheart."

"Guess what Cassie did."

"What did Cassie do?"

"She gave me a pedi . . . pedi . . . she put polish on my toes. They're really pretty, Daddy. They're pink."

"Cassie gave you a pedicure?"

"Yeah, that's the word. I wanted red but Mommy wouldn't let Cassie make 'em red. She said when I'm older I can have red."

"I'm sure your little toes are very pretty."

"Uncle Danny and Uncle T took me to the park."

"Did you have fun?"

"Uh huh. Uncle T let me sit on his shoulders and helped me swing on the monkey bars and watched me slide down the slide and Uncle Danny played in the sand box with me.

"Figures. Wherever Daniel goes he has to dig in the sand" Jack muttered to himself.

"We started building a castle but it started raining and we didn't get to finish."

"Well, Uncle Danny will just have to take you back some time and you can build another one."

"I want to build one with you, Daddy."

"We'll try to do that next time I'm home. Gracie, you need to go back to your room. Mommy won't like it if she hears you talking on the phone when you're supposed to be asleep."

"Why wouldn't she want me to talk to you? She knows I miss you."

He could hear the tears coming. "I want you to come home. Mommy misses you too. She said so."

Jack rubbed his forehead and sighed. What he would give to be back in his own house, getting to cuddle his daughter on his lap as he read her a bedtime story and waking up with Sam snuggled in his arms. Instead, he was stuck here in Washington with a bunch of bureaucrats.

"I know you miss me, honey, and I miss you and Mommy too."

"When are you coming home?" she whined.

"I'm not sure, sweetie, but soon. I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

Jack grinned. "Pinky promise."

"If it's a pinky promise, then you have to keep your promise."

"Have I ever broken a promise to my favorite girl?" he asked, trying to make her feel better.

"No."

"And I won't break this one either."

"You gonna bring me a present?"

"Gracie, I'm not going to bring you a present every time I come home. You have enough toys, games and everything else you need."

"Okay. Just checkin'."

Jack chuckled. She could be a little sneaky sometimes and he had to admit that she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Uh oh" he heard her say.

"What is it?"

"I'm in trouble."

He heard Sam's voice in the background. "Gracie, who are you talking to?"

"It's Daddy, Mommy."

"Did you call him?"

"Uh huh."

"Honey, it's early in the morning" he heard Sam say. "Tell your Daddy good night and give me the phone. You need to go back to bed."

"Gotta go now, Daddy. Promise you'll come home soon?"

"I promise."

"I love you" Gracie said sweetly.

"I love you too, baby."

He heard Sam tell Gracie that she would be there soon to tuck her in.

"Jack?"

"Hey Sam."

"How long had she been talking to you?"

"Just a few minutes."

"Scared me for a moment. She could have been talking to anyone. I'm glad it's you but I'm sorry she woke you up."

"It's okay" he said with a yawn.

"Gracie watched me when I called you the other day so she knows how to push the buttons on my phone."

"She's smart."

"Yes she is and getting so independent, Jack. She wants to do everything for herself."

Jack grinned. "Now who do you suppose she gets that from?" he teased.

"I want her to be independent but not at this age. When she's a teenager maybe but not now. She's just a baby, Jack. I don't want her to grow up too fast."

"Sam, she's only three. She's going to need you for a long time. As a matter of fact, she'll need us for the rest of our lives, no matter how old she gets. She'll always be our baby."

"I guess you're right."

Sam paused for a moment.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

He heard only silence.

"Sam, what is it?

"I told you I've been feeling a little nauseous."

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

"I was going to wait until you came home next time so I could tell you in person but since we don't know exactly when that will be . . ."

Jack threw back the covers and put his feet on the floor.

"Are you telling me . . ."

Sam smiled. "Yes, I am. We're having another baby, Jack."

"Sam, that's great! When did you find out?"

"Yesterday. Daniel and Teal'c took Gracie to the park while I went to see Dr. Lam and I had a pregnancy test. I'm having the miserable morning sickness just like I had with Gracie."

Jack grinned. "But it's worth it, isn't it?"

"Certainly is. I miss you so much, Jack" he heard her say as her voice broke.

"Oh Sam." He bent over, put his elbows on his knees and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry" she said softly. "Not only has the morning sickness kicked in but the emotional hormones have too. I cry at the drop of a hat."

Jack grinned. "Just like you did with Gracie."

He heard Sam take a deep breath. "I'll be glad when you can come home for good."

"Me too. When I'm there next time, we'll have to discuss exactly how long I'm going to stay in Washington. I missed so much of Charlie's childhood, now I'm missing Gracie's and she needs me there."

"I need you here too, Jack, but we can talk later. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"I'm too excited to sleep now."

Sam smiled. "Having another baby is pretty exciting."

Jack lay back down in bed. "You take good care of yourself, get lots of rest and take care of both my babies."

"I promise I will, honey. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll call you tomorrow . . . I mean later today."

"Okay."

"Night, Sam."

"Good night, Jack."

Sam closed the phone and walked down the hall to Gracie's room to be sure she had gone back to bed. She stood beside the bed and stared at her daughter. Clutched in Gracie's tiny arms was a picture of Gracie and Jack, taken at her third birthday party.

With tears in her eyes, Sam gently pulled the picture from Gracie's arms and set it on the bedside table. She leaned over, kissed Gracie's cheek and whispered "I know you miss your Dad, sweetie, but he'll be home very soon."

The End


End file.
